Northern lampfish (Stenobrachius leucopsarus) Die-off

Observation: Hundreds of northern lampfish on Nahku Bay beach, at low tide. Last time this happened was in March of 2011, which was the last cold March we've had until now. Nahku Bay is about three miles north-northwest of Skagway, Alaska.

Alaska Department of Fish & Game Consult: Dr. Meyers, State Fish Pathologist writes, "The causes of large fish die-offs are very difficult to determine but generally are related to environmental causes rather than disease. In more urban waters of the world die-offs are often due to pollution from runoff or industrial effluent that either kill fish directly or indirectly deplete the oxygen that results in the mortality. Algal blooms in warmer waters have caused similar mortality. In northern latitudes, where pollution is less common, die-offs have been related to weather and climate changes that increase water temperatures (such as the blob this past summer) that send forage bases, such as plankton or small fish, elsewhere, often resulting in starvation of resident fish or birds dependent on that food source. There also have been instances where marine invertebrates, such as krill, have gathered together in large numbers for spawning and then washed ashore due to wind and currents. The diel migration of large schools of lampfish to feed in shallower waters during darkness could make them similarly vulnerable to washing ashore during extreme tides, wind or storms." - Ted Meyers

LEO Comment: The Ocean Integrity Research, a leader in whole food web trophodynamic fishery ecosystem modelling has been notified of this posted observation.

Resource:

National Marine Fisheries Service – Fishery Bulletin 100(2) "Their occurrence along the inside waters and fjords of Southeast Alaska makes them available to a suite of predators that otherwise might feed upon them only offshore, and serve as important links in oceanic food webs. Myctophids provide a high-lipid energy source for a variety of predators." Source: NOAA Scientific Publication Office. Authors, Abookire et al.: Nearsurface, daytime occurrence of two mesopelagic fishes in a glacial fjord (Pages: 376-380)

Northern lampfish – "The northern lampfish (Stenobrachius leucopsarus), also known as smallfin lanternfish is a small oceanic fish in the family Myctophidae. Found in the Pacific Ocean from Japan and Baja California to the Bering Sea, it is the most common species of lanternfish in the northwestern Pacific, and one of the most abundant larval fish in the California Current. Like all lanternfish, this is a deep sea species; it spends the day in the ocean's deeper bathypelagic and mesopelagic zones and ascends to or near the ocean's surface during the night. It is a cool-water fish." Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia